A craft sale and my kiln

 My SIL invited me to sell some pieces at her dance studio. So I thought I would fire some stuff to bring with me.  Only, I have been having some technical difficulties with my kiln. (my husband broke a coil) so I had to pull a ring of my kiln out until I have time to put new coils in. Now I have less space in there.  I learned that my kiln is actually sold with two rings and the third was a custom order made by the previous owner. So removing the third ring wasn't an issue. 

I actually like it better this way. It's much easier for me to load and unload and I can crank the power with out worry of tripping the breaker 

Anyway look what I pulled out of my new smaller kiln this Saturday. 

 The sale was fun! I sold an $8 dish, signed my youngest up for jazz class and met some really nice people :) 

" WOW I wish I had all that extra time"

 It often starts out so innocently and simple "look what I finally finished"  and then we hear it. The sentence that sends us crafters (me) into a defensive rage. Followed by "can you please . . ."   The second I share any craft idea or a finished project with someone they wish, out loud, that they too had all this time in their life to make things and often ask if I could please sew something for them, crochet something for them or throw something for them . . . If you are reading this and are not a crafter I want to inform you now that this behaviour is RUDE! Rude rude rude!  the appropriate response is "wow your are so talented" or "lovely" or " how is it even possible with everything else that you do" and never ask that person to do your mending! if none of those suit your fancy a simple "nice" is better than implying we crafters aren't busy and thinking we have "all this time" to sew the armpit hole in your shirt!  Or patch up your sons knee hole . . .  We DO NOT have "all this extra time" on our hands. I for one am a busy mom of three, I have gymnastics and scouts, computer club and laundry and vacuuming and  meals and dusting but I make the time to also do the things I enjoy. In the evening I don't flop on the sofa for Relaxing TV time, I craft . . . I do with out sleep or catch 5 minutes while waiting for the kids to get to the table after I called them for dinner. . . . I never sit still or empty handed. I am creating ever second I get. I have friends who are fellow crafters and they too DO NOT have "extra time".   I know my rant may sound silly but honestly I have stopped telling people I can sew or I can do pottery. Im not normally this grumpy about it but recently I told someone (I wont say who) that I could sew and they showed up at my house with a shopping bag of their mending for me to do! No joke or exaggeration! Another family member has something for me every other week and various other people in my life often ask me to mend their things. Like I said before I do not have a lot of time. So when I'm doing other peoples mending or their orders for which I won't get paid I'am NOT crafting or creating I am very grumpily regretting I ever told that person I can sew and wishing I was doing something I enjoyed. Am I alone in this? Do I just have too many rude people in my life?? How do I say NO?!?

Nothing else to do

When you're sick in bed there is really nothing fun to do but surf the Internet for idea of what to do . . . These are what I came up with. 

I made a couple pair of these for my two girls and a pair for me. 

Now back to the Internet for more ideas 😃

On the go

My husband had some work in PEI and New Brunswick so the kids and I went with him. He had to work but that didn't stop kids and I from having fun at the pools and beaches.  

Along the drive I thought  it would be fun to buy a lottery ticket from each province we drove through and holy wow we actually won $120 from Quebec! Yay! 

Having been away and the kids out of school I haven't had much time  to be blogging or finishing projects. On the go right now are two and a half quilts and a few pots. 

This is one of the quilts I've started for my youngest. The colours are so her. I finished the top before our trip and was able find some fabric for the backing in PEI 

Check it out cozy flannel in the exact colours I needed 

I'm also working on my sons crazy quilt. I have been working on it for over a year.  I'm so pleased with how its coming out. If I ever finish it I've been told that I "have to" enter it in the local fair. I have more embroidery and some little patches I'd like to add to it.  But here's a peek at what I've done so far. 

I've also started another little quilt for my youngest to use at school. I love the little yellow bird I made it at the suggestion of my niece. I drew the bird with a pen on some yellow fabric and used my free motion foot to stitch over my pen lines 

 

I have a big load of pots I need to bisque among them are these, a bird bath I made for my MIL to give as a gift to her friends and a chips and salsa bowl. 

I was reminded today that my kids would be back to school in a week! Yay!! After they all start back I'll have two weeks before I have to go back to work. Two glorious weeks all for me!! No kids for a full 10 days thats 60 hours!!!!  to recover from summer haha I haven't yet decided if I'll be spending it on the sofa napping and watching Netflix with my dog or finish up my projects and starting new ones. Either way I KNOW  I'll so totally enjoy it! 😃

Quick quilt

Last weekend I got around to reading what my youngest will need for when she starts school. She's the first of my children to attend full day kindergarten so I was surprised to read that she would need a blanket that would be "sent home on weekends for washing". The note didn't say if she would be using the blanking to lay on or under but I I'm certain she needs a personalized one made by mama.  So that is exactly what I started yesterday. I tried the free hand motion and love how quickly and easily I got the hang of it. The blanket feels stiff so I have it in the wash and hope that will help soften it. 

I couldn't decide on  colour or fabric so I asked my little one to pick from a couple options.  She had wanted pink but I didn't have any so she settled on the purple. I told her I would get her some pink and make another one. This quilt was so quick and so easy I don't see why I couldn't  make a couple of them just in case I don't feel like doing laundry every weekend :) 

Kids in my kitchen

I'll be honest and admit that I don't play nice with others in my kitchen. I bump or trip over people they get in my way, distract me with talking making me grumpy and when children are involved, there is also that inevitable sneeze going into the food we'll be eating. YUCK!
Recently, I went out of the norm cause I know how much they love it and how good it is for them to learn meal preparation and I invited my 8 and 6 year old to help out with peeling and chopping, I even let them use real sharp knives and a peeler. I was worried about a finger being chopped off the whole time but it was nice to have their company and the pride I heard in their voices when they told daddy they had made dinner was worth abandoning my comfort zone. My 6 year was even proud to show off the little finger cut she got chopping a potato. I think I might have to invited them in to my cooking zone more often. . . Or maybe not . . .  Do you let you kids help out in the kitchen?

Denim Cobblestone Quilt

I started this project 11 years ago when my friend showed me one she'd done for her brother. It inspired me and I started saving and cutting our old jeans I always saved the jeans even the ones my son ripped but I just tossed them in a box and went about life.  Now that my children are a little older and entertain them selves (and even occasioanlly tidy on their own). last April I decided to buy some complimentary fabric and start coming up with something.  While I was coming up with ideas my eldest daughter asked to help, she pointed to some quilts she liked on the Internet then helped me organize and create a pattern. While helping put things together she decided the quilt was to be hers when it was done and decided what colours would go where. And finishing details like backing and even the embroidered binding. I of course got to do all the sewing. I think we did a good job for our first beginning to end quilt.

I feel like my time is starting again, my children are so little but they need so much less of me, like for example I only have wipe one bottom that isnt my own and I know once she starts school in few month she'll take that duty over. I haven't felt freedom like this in 9 years and I so enjoy even these small snips of creative time even if it is plagued with interruption. My favourite and most frequent kind is when my youngest runs in to kiss me and tell me how much she loves me then dashes off to do her own thing.

My Space

Out of every one in the family I think I consume the most personal as in keep out no kids allowed space in the house. I'm pretty lucky hubby is so patient. Upstairs over looking the back yard where the kids play is a bright open sun room, in there I have my all my sewing and paper crafts. I love being in there I can watch the kids outside and create at the same time.  It is so peaceful . . . until it is intrupted by a screaming kiddo lol. 

Down stair in the dungeon, err I mean basement I have my pottery studio, it is maybe a year old, I love the space I hate where it is located it needs so much more lighting too. If you know about clay you know silica, the main ingredient of clay can float in the air for hours so having it in the house at all means lots of cleaning and since it is not where the kids play I feel better about having it my home at all. It being in my home is also part of the reason I don't mix my own glazes. 

Kiln opening

I opened a completed glaze firing this past week. I always feel like a kid on Christmas Eve waiting for my kiln to cool off enough to open. I'm still new and unfamiliar with all the glazes I have and actually owning and firing everything my self so it is still a big surprise for me to open. All of my past openings have been met with about 50% disappointment even when I do follow the test tiles I made and don't experiment I ruin a lot of my pots by glazing them.  The good thing about those past openings was that for there was 100% learning so finally I opened and . . . I'm happy :) 

Cuteness

My husband and I were sitting next to one another talking when our three year old trotted up to us, at first she said nothing but grabbed use both by our head, turned our faces to one another and smushed us together saying "now it is time for you to kiss" with out protest we accommodated her demand and kissed each other to which she encouraged "theeeere you go guys, good job, that's how you do it" she patted us on our heads and trotted off.

American Girl clothes

About a week before Christmas I was thinking about what else I might give the girls, my older daughter has an American Girl doll that looks like her and my youngest was getting hers. Looking around on the Internet I found a talented lady who makes American Girl doll clothes patters. I bought a bunch of patterns that looked like they might be easy to alter to change the look and some patterns I just hade buy! (The little jeans, i love them, they even have pockets!) I spent about 40-ish dollars on theses patterns, there were a lot of free ones offered too. I started by printing them, then gluing all the patterns to card board I recycled from work. I have a healthy stash of fun fabric and some clothes I had saved from when the girls were younger. I quickly got to cutting and sewing mostly at night while the girls slept. If I hadn't been under such a time crunch I think it would have been a lot more fun than it was but here are some of the outfits I made them.

The winter coats were made from an old tommy hilfigure coat my oldest received as a gift then handed down to her sister.

The black shirt, skirt, tank top, dress and leggings were all made from a shirt I once wore but found too tight for my style.

All the denim things were made from various old jeans once worse by my husband and or son.

I didn't have to do any altering of patterns , except for the gown, I didn't have enough fabric to satisfy the pattern so I got creative with the bodice.

The leopard print items were made with scraps I had left over from a costume I made my youngest last year.

The belts were made from odds and ends I found in my sewing box and left over straps.

They were thrilled to get them. And I love watching them dress their dolls, they both have American girl bitty babies and the cloths fit the babies as well tho not as we'll but an okay fit to please the girls.

Science Inspired Art

What started out as a science project ended as an art piece. I poured some vinegar in an ice cube tray and added a drop of different coloured food colouring. I covered the bottom of a small container with baking soda and let my daughter drop colours. She loved watching them sizzle. I had to change the baking soda dish a few times she loved it so much. Then she asked if we could paint a picture like it. So we eye dropped some paint and used straws to blow some of the drops around. I got very messy but she created something I think turned out so pretty.

How I make my smoothies

I start my day with a smoothie, the other day I took photo's of the fruit I cut up cause I thought it looked so pretty. I'm not going to look what the calorie count is or the nutritional content cause I don't want to read something that will ruin my morning smoothie for me, so I'll just explain to you I make them so quickly.

When I see fruit I love on sale I buy a lot of it, bring it home and cute it up, or if I notice the fruit I bought for my kids lunch isn't looking as perfect as my kids want them to be I prepare these little snack sized baggies. (You can use the per cut frozen stuff I guess but I find they have less flavour)

Usually in a Baggie I put a half banana or third of a mango with or with out a couple berries, or a half a banana and a quarter mango you really do not want to put too much in your baggies, about as much that would fit into a half cup or so. Once they are chopped and ready I pop them in the freezer to wait for me to be ready to have my breakfast.

In the morning while am toasting the kids toast I pull one of these fruit baggies out, break it up and toss it in my fake bullet blender then I add

a small single serving of yogurt any brand any flavour (I like vanilla)
1/2 cup of ice
1/4 water (you want the water to help cut some of the sweetness out but if you like sweet then replace with juice)
1/4 v8 splash juice (but any juice will do, I just like the splash because it boasts a serving of veggies too and I don't have to taste them)

While I butter up the toast I let that mix, by the time I'm done buttering I'm ready to sit and enjoy my breakfast with my children.

New Potter

I got my 6 year old on the wheel, she is amazingly strong and so focused no issues with centering the clay. She is so confident, she moves fast which is fine but her quick movement led her to have a hard time pulling up, too fast and too confident, her challenge will be slowing down and softening her touch. Together we managed to make a tiny pot, it is so cute, there were a few other wiggly pots that we both loved but the walls were just too weak and didn't make it.

Who loves what

When I open the craft closet and ask out loud "what shall we do today?" I always know what craft my 3 year old will chose. She loves to paint, she tries new brushes, sponges, the other day she suggested she try a fork to see what it would look like. She has great ideas and has started mixing colours to see what would happen. She loves to use brown "it looks yummy like chocolate" she said when I asked why everything was brown. I love that she said that! It's a better perspective than what I was thinking :/ . I know I shouldn't have but last week I actually tried to hide the brown just so I could see what can come up with in other colours but of course I got caught and had to pull it out for her.

My older daughter loves to draw, she will spend hours, last week I gave her an art journal with a word or two she had to draw. She loved this challenge, it wasn't meant as a homework assignment but she did not stop until every page and the cover had something on it. She plans to colour this weekend.

The best friend one is supposed to be me, I thought that was so sweet of her to say until she add "see how I drew it bigger in the belly? "that's cause you aren't skinny like me" *giggles*

Bird feeder

There is a park not far from our house where we can lift a hand full of bird feed and the birds will come and eat from our hand . . . or our heads :) other little woodland critters come for some free food too.

Balls to cake balls

We decided to make cake balls yesterday; in a little more than a week my 3 year old will be 4 years old and she has put in a special request for pink cake balls. I have made them before and truthfully, am utterly baffled where I found the patience to make them at the time cause they are tedious!!
The cake supply store only had purple Satin Ice vanilla fondant, I've tried other brands of fondant and yuckario! So I got the blueish looking purple Satin Ice vanilla fondant and after getting the coulour okayed from my birthday to be girl we got to work. . . Together we made the cake and icing let it cool then in my mixer we mixed the two. After the two were blended together it didn't look the best but wow it was delicious!! I sent the kids to play with their friends so I could make the balls. In about 20 or so minutes I produced four very ugly looking blueish-purple cake filled blobs and then logically thought "gawd!! is this something I really want to be doing, now, with all the kids I have in my house" (my own and their friends, 6 total which is the actual number but that count included this one very spirited little girl who is very creative, very loud, very energetic much older and can reach the stuff I've hidden for a reason but doesn't think about why it was hidden she is without any exaggeration the equivalent parental effort to my three children combined so by my count 9 children) the mess I would have made continuing to try to make the balls was one thing but I'm certain there would have been a mess of the distasterouse sort, you know the kind unattended children are capable of making of a house, just so I can make more of these ugly little cake filled blobs? No way! This whole cake ball making idea was with out a doubt something that needed rethinking. I had to come up with an alternative treat to try to make my girl for her birthday. It had to be something that would taste exactly the same that could be popped in the mouth real easy in a bite or two but was much easier and quicker for me to make.

Here is what I came up with;
I rolled out a large rectangle of fondant, I spread a layer of the cake/butter cream icing mixture on top of the fondant. Then, I rolled it all up like a log and popped the log in the freezer over night. Today I took the logs out and slice them into one inch thick pieces but that was too think half inch was a much better size for my little ones. They're perfect . . . Even better it took me 20 minutes or so to do up. Tho, if you try to make them your self they get soft a mushy if they aren't served fresh from the refrigerator. We like ours frozen. :)

March Break

Since discovering computers my son hasn't been interested in crafts with me. When school is on I limit his computer time to and hour a day. Which if you have kids you know is actually a lot of time when you factor in school, homework, meals, tidy up, showers or baths and bed time. His favourite game is Minecraft, he purchased the game with his birthday money last summer. It's very cute. He has a friend over or Facetimes a friend on his iPod and the two "play" together digitally. It being march break I have allowed him the whole day, it is after all his break and he is still playing with a friend and since the weather isn't good I don't mind him spending so much time on the computer other than I miss him and his artistic contributions . . . I'm guessing this is the beginning of my son growing up and my having to learn to let him go a little.


I started the week with restoring a children's rocker my FIL fond in the garbage. It needed a good cleaning, a sanding another cleaning with a damp rag, glued and clamped then oiled. It's a lovely little rocker. There was some discussion on painting it but I like the natural wood.

While restoring the chair in between drying and oiling the girls and I embarked on a painting fiasco. A simple paint by numbers . . . with missing numbers which disturbed my 6 year old. She had some very strong opinions on this and suggested we contact the makers of this product because "they should know better than to sell a children's product with the numbers all wrong". Not only were the numbers messed up the paint was dry and crumbly, I tried to water it down but it turned into a gunky mess which encrusted itself to my table and craft cups. So we used crayola paint and it worked out okay.

Once done we added them to the art our new (as of 2013) art wall.

Potters apron

How cute is this apron and not at all girly IMHO. There is a slit down the middle so his pants remain covered while potting. This was so ease to make, it's simply three rectangles. . . Two for his legs and one for around his waist. Sew it all together and done.

I made an apron like this for myself as well and even got to try it out. I wasn't going to post a photo of what I had made cause I was going to surprise a knitter friend of mine (http://spinnerknits.blogspot.ca/) with one but it turns out she has one she got for her mom . . . So I guess I can share it here. Here are some yarn bowls I made, I really enjoy making these, of course I love sitting at my wheel but even the carving and matching the cuts to compliment the shape of the pot is fun. . . I think I did okay. I already have a few folks wanting to buy! Sure hope I don't mess them up when I glaze them lol

Here I am.

I did not think it had been a year since I wrote my last post hahaha well here I am . . . again . . . and I have stuff and time to share!

I'll start with today

I made aprons for my girls, I didn't think it through, I just kind of started with a notion and some fabric that I recycled from an old pappasan chair cover. I didn't follow the traditional order of sewing, honestlty I just layed out the fabric and started cutting. First I cut my fabric into two rectangles, I knew I'd be making two (one for each of my girls). On one end of the shorter sides of the rectangle I cut the corners off, the other end I rounded the corners and had planned on just hemming the whole things, then I cut a bunch of 1.5 inche strips from some pretty pink fabric that I thought would make some great ties and started pinning. While digging through my fabric stash looking for the pink I found a pocket that used to belong to a pair of my husbands jeans; right there and then I decided theses aprons needed a pocket, I used the old jeans pocket as a pattern, pink of course. My mind started to flood with possibilities . . . ruffles . . . Heart . . . Maybe some ribbon. . . My head was spinning! so I had to take a step back and got out my pencil and markers and drew what came to me. I started to sew again and tried the heart pocket you see in the photo but it looked to girly girl with the ruffle and once i cut my rounded corners i was already committed to the ruffles. . . I love green & blue or pink & green so the obvious choice was green for the stitching. I used to try to do perfect stitching but over time I realized how rusticly adorable the haphazard lines look (and were much faster in getting my project done)

While sewing today I broke my Phaff :( not a big break I guess more of an injury which I'm sure for a price can be fixed . . . . The lil itty bitty teeny tiny hook that threads my needle is no longer there in the photo it should be where the tiny pink dot is . . . Ok so I guess it is comparable to a pin prick lol it was still pretty upsetting! I had to do all my threading the old fashioned way! my Phaff is no longer perfect :(

The aprons were a big hit! both girls wore them all evening and served me pretend burgers and soup from their pretend kitchen . . . As you can see from the finished product there's a ribbon flower on it which wasn't well receiver so was instantly removed. Both girls tried to sleep in them tonight but I just wasn't comfortable with the cords around their necks so we stuffed them in their pillow case so they'd stay safe but close enough to be considered sleeping with.


Tomorrow I might try to make a potters apron for both my son and I as he has taken an interest in potting. I'm both excited and proud and a little worried I'll lose my wheel to him lol


I feel like I have to mention this is the first time I'm posting from my iPad, I'm not at all competent with this thing and there's a pain in the butt auto correct . . . Oh and I can't figure out how to add the photos where I want them or to size them and lol it'll be a surprise where they turn up lol

Cheers.